Join the club
by serenedream77
Summary: Mark and Izzie - will be multiple chapters, starting after Gizzie's first encounter and Izzie is trying to put George behind her. This is my first fan fiction posted so any reviews are welcomed.
1. Chapter 1

She rolled over and looked at the man lying in bed next to her and suddenly knew that she had made a hideous, horrible mistake. It was only the most recent in a long line, and she wondered when she would learn. She slowly eased away from her latest drunken escapade and wrapped a blanket around her hips and tiptoed towards the door. Izzie looked down the hall and made a quick walk of shame to the downstairs bathroom. She jumped into the shower and made sure the water was on the hottest setting. She sincerely wished that she could wash last night away with soap and water. Closing her eyes, she rested her head against the wall, and winced. It was always the tequila, blame it on 17 straight shots and being turned down by evil spawn. Above her head, she could hear footsteps bedroom doors opening, which spurred her to action. She quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and a yellow pullover sweater and headed for the front door.

The surgical floor was quiet when she arrived and she immediately headed for the residents' lounge. She sat down on the bench and began talking to herself once she was content that she was alone. Izzie verbalized how she was feeling and that was pretty much like a dirty, dirty mistress. If she thought about the situation with George which was a response to being rejected by Alex, which was a reaction to wanting to feel alive after losing Denny. _I guess it just means that I wanted to feel alive for a few minutes but I totally jumped Bambi and I am so going to hell for this one. _Izzie pulled her hair back into a pony tail and looked up with a horrified look. He looked down at Dr. Model with an amused sarcastic grin and she closed her eyes in humiliation.

She was unsure how long Mark had been standing in the doorway and how much he had heard. He watched her and didn't say anything. He was evaluating everything he thought he knew about Izzie Stevens, she had completely changed his perception of who and what she was. He casually stepped in the room and walked closer to where Izzie was sitting, still not saying a word to the blonde resident. He watched the color bloom in her cheeks and he thought it was charming. She stubbornly refused to look at him and asked him to leave as he was not a resident. Mark rolled his eyes and listened to Izzie explain to him that he needed to leave because she needed space from anything with testosterone.

Mark had always thought that Izzie was gorgeous but she had always been with someone or he had been chasing Addison or Derek or talking to Meredith about joining the Dirty Mistress' Club. He grinned and strolled over to where Izzie was sitting and knelt close to her. He whispered in her ear that she could join the club and they could have a one on one meeting. Izzie quickly turned and looked at Mark unsure if he was kidding or flirting or just being a manwhore. She was just unaware she had said it out loud.

Mark was looking at Izzie and thinking about Addison. He smiled just a bit and remembered Derrek saying that the best way to get over someone was to get under someone else. He slid his hands up to her waist and turned her quickly so that she was off balance.

Izzie asked the man whore what he thought he was doing, Mark replied that he was going to engage in some recreational therapy with the hot blonde down the hall. He further explained that it sounded like the hot blonde needed to be reminded that she was alive and a screaming orgasm was a perfect way to do that, but he would settle for a kiss with tongue. He waited for her to say no but the hot blonde appeared to be floundering, so he leaned in and plunged. His lips met hers and his tongue wrapped around hers. Izzy closed her eyes and clutched Mark's shoulders. He slid his hands to the middle of her back and pulled her forward so that her legs were splayed open and she was almost sitting on his lap. He kissed her again and pulled her long blonde hair loose of its rubber band. Mark slid his hands through her hair and used it to pull her in closer for another open mouth, deep kiss.

A scuffing sound at the door startled Izzy and she attempted to pull away from Mark. Mark was not inclined to let his blonde handful go anywhere. George and Callie were standing in the doorway. George wore a shocked expression and Callie looked desperately hopeful. Callie grabbed George's hand and quickly pulled him away without saying a word. Mark turned and pinned Izzy with a look. She looked absolutely furious.

Izzie pushed Mark but hadn't realized that his hands were still gripping her hips and she tumbled to the floor with him. He quickly rolled so that she was under him and he smirked down at her.

" You seem really mad about a simple kiss and being seen doing it, and you know what is even more interesting I wouldn't think that Dr. Model could kiss like that. It makes me wonder what else we can do together. "

"Just because you have been with every nurse on this floor it dosen't mean that you are getting into these scrubs".

" Who said I wanted to Dr. Model? Maybe you should wait until you are asked and maybe you should dry off before you start rounding on those innocent patients." he grinned and strolled to the door. He didn't even look back. It didn't show from his expression, but his encounter with Izzy Stevens had definitely shocked him. He had just decided that the blonde intern would help get a certain evil redhead out of his system.

_Izzie Stevens you are in for it now._Mark Sloan was dnagerous, he could make her forget her very recent vow to focus on work and no more boys. And that was such a bad thing. She changed into her scrubs and reminded herself that she was to focus on her patients and figuring out her specialty. That was kind of hard to do if she was dreaming over Mark Sloane and thinking about pulling him into a -- she shook her head and firmly told herself that doing attendings were such a no.


	2. Chapter 2

Izzie rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and arched her back. She was definitely feeling every minute of her eighteen hour work shift. She had decided to cover a shift for Meredith in an effort to keep George out of her head. However, she was finding that George was no longer her problem. Ever since the encounter with Mark Sloan in the lounge that he was now occupying her thoughts. Sloan has been the headline attraction in all of her fantasies lately. _What was that about? From George to Sloan the manwhore, that is quite the jump. _While she was preoccupied with her musings, a few staff members had noticed Izzie's stretching and arching of her lower back. A scrub nurse ran down the hall frantically looking for her. It was just another busy day at Seattle Grace.

Mark Sloan sauntered down the hall a few hours later. It had been a few days since the kiss with the blonde bombshell and he wondered if it was too soon to rattle her cage again. If he was right about her, he expected her to retreat and avoid him and he would be damned if he was going to let her. He walked over to the nurses' station and beamed at the on-call nurse. Rosie smiled and blushed and gave Mark the information he wanted. He flipped through the schedule and suddenly knew he was going to have a very good night. He and Dr. Stevens were the only two surgeons on the schedule for the next several hours. Now he just had to refine his approach and find something to occupy her interns with. He flipped through the charts and decided the interns really needed to practice debridement and routine suturing.

Izzie was busy questioning her interns about blood clots and the associated disorders. She patiently listened to their explanations and then explained that their patient was recovering from a pulmonary embolism and was on a series on anticoagulants. Sloan stood slightly outside the door and watched Izzie's interactions with her interns. She was definitely an excellent teacher and her soft heart was visible in her demeanor with the grunts. She directed one of her interns to monitor and report back to her in three hours.

"Stevens, I need you to assist me with a patient. I need you to explain a procedure to a fruitcake. She wants somebody with a yellow aura and a blonde bombshell should do it." Mark calmly watched Izzie try to extricate herself from her request. He pulled the pile of charts from behind his back.

"I have some minor cases that your three interns can work on but I need your help."

Izzie swallowed and had visions of Mark pushing her up against a locker dancing through her head and completely forgot where she was for a moment. She shook her head and Darcy asked if she was alright. Izzie glared at Mark and watched as he explained that if there were questions they should check with the charge nurse.

"Dr. Stevens."

"Dr. Sloane."

Izzie followed Mark down the hall and gasped as he pulled her into an empty room and swiftly spun her around so that she was against a door. He smiled and whispered in her ear "You are avoiding me so I had to pull some strings and my calendar says it's bring a hot blonde to work day so here we are." He slid his hands under her lab coat and laced his fingers in the small of her back. He wondered if she was going to actually claim that she was still hung up on the puppy.

Izzie looked at Mark and tried to pull away. "This is highly unprofessional behavior – " she broke off when Mark started laughing at her.

"The really interesting thing is you didn't tell me you were in love with or thinking about the puppy which means you are thinking about reasons that this shouldn't happen. Very telling Dr. Stevens, very telling indeed. Your roommate and my best friend are involved in this whole mythic fairy tale. And you Dr. Stevens were emotionally doing a patient not to mention one Alex Karev here in this very hospital. Guess what time it is Dr. Stevens?"

Izzie was very flustered by the gorgeous attending who gripping her panties in his hand and preventing her exit. She looked at her watch and said 11:45. He grinned and shook his head and whispered it was time to take her medicine and if she was a really good girl she might get to take it all really soon. He lifted her up by her waist and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Mark nudged her hair aside and slowly kissed her neck and collar bone. Izzie closed her eyes and slid her hands up his back and listened to him tell her everything he wanted to do to her and the things he wanted to do twice. He pulled back and looked directly in her eyes.

"Now tell me that the puppy makes you feel like this," he leaned for a kiss and kept at it until she was breathless and clinging to him. He whispered that he liked her clingy and weak. "C'mon we need to get to work – remember I haven't asked yet, Dr. Model."

Izzie flushed and spat "Hell will freeze over first. " Mark grinned and suggested they go next door where the patient was. The patient and her husband were anxiously awaiting the two doctors. Izzie slowly explained the balloon procedure and how it grew new skin over the wound. She finished up with the potential for infection and hoped she had answered all of her questions. Mark explained that Dr. Stevens would be assisting with her procedure and it should go well. The two surgeons exited the patient's room and stood in the hall, unaware that they were already generating gossip among doctors and nurses alike. Izzie turned away from Mark and went to check on her interns. Everyone was where they were supposed to be and there were no major issues. She wearily rubbed her eyes and told the charge nurse that she wanted to sleep for at least an hour or two and to call her if she was needed.

Izzie crawled into the bed and pulled the blanket up around her. She thought about Mark and smiled as she drifted off to sleep. Izzie slept fitfully and kicked off her blankets and was completely unaware when Mark walked in looking for a quiet place to stretch out. He quickly noticed Izzie stretched out and how flushed she was. He felt her face and knew she had a fever. Izzie opened her eyes and whispered that she hurt. Mark knelt down by her bunk and asked when she ate last.

She mumbled this morning and then doubled over and ran for the bathroom. Mark ran after her and held her hair back while Izzie was sick again. She slumped on the bathroom floor and closed her eyes. Mark lifted her up into his arms and walked down the hall and laid her down on a bed in a vacant room. He ran his hands down her sides looking for tenderness or swelling. He slipped the temperature gauge on one thumb and the pressure monitor on the other hand. Mark looked at her and sighed. She was cool and he did not think it was anything major. He flagged down a nurse and asked that Izzie be given some water and taken off the schedule for the next seventy-two hours. He pulled up a chair and propped his feet on the bed and watched her. _It looks like our weekend just got re-schedules Dr. Model. _

He grabbed his cell phone and made a quick call to Derek and got ahold of Meredith. He was going to take Izzie home but wanted to make sure that Meredith knew she was ill and left out some clothes for her. He politely listened to Mere for a few minutes and then cut her off by stating that he was going to take her home and spend the night since she and Derek both had to work.

Meredith looked at Derek across town and wondered what was going on. She was suddenly very curious about Mark and one of her closest friends. Derek looked at Meredith thoughtfully and smiled and said maybe they are just having fun.

Mark looked at the blonde sleeping on the bed and thought about the last time that he had taken care of a woman and how well that had gone. _He flashed back to a year ago – Addison was wrung out from the early stages of pregnancy and Mark was stretched out beside her. He brushed her hair back and smiled. He had offered to stay home with her but she said she had a doctor's appointment. It had turned out to be an appointment to terminate the pregnancy._ Mark closed his eyes and went to go get his car and take Blondie home. This was supposed to be light and fun – weren't those his words. He pulled his SUV around and ran back in to get Izzie. He carried her out of the hospital and chose to ignore the many telling looks he was receiving. He placed her in the front seat and gently fastened the seat belt. She chose that moment to open her eyes and whisper that it was a hell of a dream and eyes like that were dangerous and she drifted off to sleep.

A few minutes later found him at the house that Meredith, Izzie and Alex shared. He vaguely knew which room was Izzie's. He carried her upstairs and found a yellow cami on her bed. He swiftly undressed her and pulled the cami over her head and tucked her into bed. Mark rotated and viewed her bedroom with a smile. It was definitely not what he expected, a mix of naughty and romantic. He opened a few drawers and thanked a few angels at Victoria's Secrets. It appeared that the blonde liked pretty things especially in yellow and blue. He ran downstairs and grabbed a pair of pj pants out of his car and quickly changed and crawled into bed next to her. He wrapped his arms around her and sighed as she squirmed in close.

(C'est moi – the author – I wanted to have a reason for them to get really close really fast and then I thought tummy flu and I hope you guys like this chapter – I guess I am over my writer's block).


	3. Chapter 3

Meredith walked down the hall and peeked into Izzie's bedroom. She saw Izzie curled around Mark and they were both sleeping. She frowned and wondered what McSteamy was up to. She ran downstairs and grabbed a quick breakfast and vowed to quiz Mark at work later about his intentions. Iz had been through a lot in the last year, they all had really. Things were going so good with Derek and she hated to rock the boat but wanted to find out what Mark wanted with her friend.

The slamming of the door woke Mark up. He stretched and rolled toward the warmth surrounding him. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a still sleeping Izzie. He ran a hand across her forehead and was relieved that she was cool to the touch. She had spiked a dangerously high fever in the night. He closed his eyes as he remembered moments of the day before. The highlight was definitely the scorching kiss with Dr. Model. He eased away from the bed and padded down the stairs and poked around the kitchen attempting to put a light breakfast together for Izzie. He came up with oatmeal, Tylenol and apple juice. He placed everything on a tray and didn't see Derek until he spun around toward the stairs. Derek grinned and didn't say a word. Mark rolled his eyes and said he was a whore and didn't do feelings.

He opened the bedroom door and his patient was stretching and yawning. Izzie looked surprised to see him in the house. He walked towards her and placed the tray on the bed and approached her slowly.

"How're you feeling?"

"Tired and groggy –"

"You should stay home today. Take the Tylenol and juice; don't try the oatmeal if your stomach is still sour." Mark stood up and looked out the window. He made a point of looking at the alarm clock and said that he had a surgery at noon and he had to get going. He was suddenly aware of the intimacy of the room and the closeness he had shared with her, suddenly extremely uncomfortable. This was supposed to be sex and a way to get Addison out of his system, it was working entirely too well. He knelt next to the bed and told her to call Meredith if she needed anything. The wounded expression on her face almost stopped him in his tracks.

Izzie closed her eyes and threw herself back against her pillows and reminded herself that no one could count on Mark Sloan. He was all about the physical and not good at the relationship stuff. _Get a grip Stevens, its supposed to be about getting George out of your system but we aren't even thinking about him. _She took her Tylenol and closed her eyes in frustration. Her last thoughts before drifting off to sleep were of Mark and wondering why he was so closed off.

Mark scowled as he got behind the wheel of his SUV, he had been hit by the feeling that she could be the one who really caught him if he wasn't careful. They hadn't even had sex yet and he had already brought her home and was worrying over oatmeal. When had he turned into Derek I'm a Woman Shepherd? He definitely had to find a nurse after his surgeries because the wounded resident was getting under his skin. He went about his day and then found himself cornered by a tiny Grey. Meredith wore a very disapproving expression. It probably didn't help that he was in close proximity with Nurse Olivia.

"MARK"

"What Dr. Grey? Not everyone is in a tortured tango like you and Derek. –"

"You brought Izzie home and slept in her bed – if you aren't serious then leave her alone. She doesn't do casual; she can't be a dirty mistress."

Mark glared at Meredith and calmly suggested that she might want to start minding her own business. He leaned forward so that he was nose to nose with her and told the tiny person to leave him alone. He didn't know what was going on in his head and she was the last person he would discuss it with. Calm, cool and confident Mark Sloan was deeply rattled as he turned away from Meredith and flung his charts at Nurse Olivia and stalked down the hall. Derek watched the exchange from the end of the hallway with interest. Meredith looked at the charts with interest. This was the most emotion she had seen Mark spend on another person besides Derek and never on a woman with the exception of Addison.

George had been covertly watching Mark all day and was curious to see if this supposed thing between Izzie and Mark was real or imagined. He thought he loved her but he was more annoyed that she had managed to move on so quickly. George had been assigned to Mark's surgeries for the majority of the week. He did not like being in such proximity to the plastic surgeon. Mark was taking perverse pleasure in assigning the puppy all of his scut work. George never said anything or defended himself against the senior doctor which only strengthened Mark's belief that George would never have been strong enough for Izzie.

Izzie slept sporadically throughout the day. She needed to rest but her mind was racing, she kept thinking about the events of the past few days. Things had been so completely insane lately. First everyone in the hospital had found about her fling with George and then Mark had burst out of his shell and decided that she needed sexual healing. She really thought that she loved George but her chemistry with Mark was overwhelming. He merely had to look at her and she was preoccupied with thoughts of him taking off her clothes off with his teeth. She shivered involuntarily, and smiled wryly. _Here I am, almost comatose with the flu and I am still obsessing over Sloane – am I totally cracked in the head?_ Her next thoughts were how caring Sloane had been and she had never seen him that way with anyone. The entire situation was making her head spin. Her cell phone vibrated with the indicator that she had a text message. She frowned and picked up the clamshell and flipped open.

"_Make sure you drink the juice and get some sleep. BC I am going 2b thinking about those tiny pink panties all day" _It was from Mark and enough to make her blush. She closed her eyes, her head spinning from exhaustion, her insane love life and the effects of the stomach flu that raged through her body. Izzie turned off her phone and pulled her comforter up around her shoulders and drifted off to sleep. Over the next three hours, George and Mark both tried to call her and received no answer. Mark asked Meredith to let him know how Izzie was as he had to work late and wouldn't be able to see her until later that evening. Derek watched the interaction with Mark with a grin, causing Mark to snap that he needed to go be a brain surgeon or go find some cute, little intern. Meredith and Derek both watched Mark stalk off for the tenth time today with identical smirks.

Meredith left work early to check on Izzie and tried to call her on the way from the hospital. She was unable to reach her and she had called several times that day. She pulled into the drive way with a knot and sense of increasing panic. Meredith mentally told herself that Izzie was probably fine and walked in the house and ran up the steps. The sight of Izzie lying on her side in the middle of the hall stopped her immediately. She knelt next to her roommate and felt her forehead. Izzie was burning up and Meredith looked at her closely for the first time and swore. Izzie was curled on one side and appeared to be clutching her mid section. Meredith dialed 911 quickly and begged them to hurry. She brushed Izzie's hair back from her face causing Izzie to whimper slightly. She held her hand and Meredith quietly began to panic. She heard movement outside and ran down to the first floor landing and motioned to the paramedics. Meredith listened to their questions and soon became frustrated. They asked all of the routine questions: age, any preexisting medical conditions, drugs and could she be pregnant. Meredith answered them all except for the last one. She said that Izzy had been in severe abdominal pain and was running a high fever. The ER at Seattle Grace had diagnosed her with influenza. It was as she was speaking that Meredith realized they hadn't done any blood tests. Her mind was racing with the new information – the patient was in distress, fever and abdominal pain and pregnancy could not be ruled out. Meanwhile, the paramedics had Izzie on a stretcher and on her way out to the ambulance. The lead paramedic spun around and asked her if she wanted to ride along. She nodded yes.

Ten minutes later found Izzie being wheeled into the ER at Seattle Grace and Meredith was doggedly following her. Izzie was still unconscious. The attending ER physician did a quick exam and a light pelvic and discovered that she was extremely tender in that area. Izzie groaned and briefly opened her eyes and begged them to stop stabbing her. Meredith and the doctor looked at each other as he yelled that he wanted a surgical and obstetrics consult. Meredith made sure that Izzie upstairs and being examined. She was pushed out of Izzie's hospital room and suddenly found Christina and George by her side.

Meredith suddenly found herself explaining what she found when she walked through the front door. Izzie was lying on the floor and that the two doctors were examining her. Mark suddenly appeared at the end of the hall with a panicked look on his face. George appeared shocked and clumsily declared he had to go check on a patient. Christina and Meredith sat down and waited on the doctors to emerge from their friend's hospital room.

Christina was still shocked that Izzie was possibly pregnant. "Who's the father?"

"Christina, its Izzie, it has to be George or maybe Mark."

"McSteamy! Shut up!" Christina's eyes were round with shock and were thinking about Izzie and Sloane with a considering look.

"I have never seen her so still before. She was just lying there in the hall and she was so hot, and holding her side." Meredith sighed. Mark walked down the hall and appeared in front of the two women.

"How is she?" he demanded tersely. His tone exacerbated an already tense situation. Meredith who was already extremely tense and jumped up in aggravation.

"We have no idea how she is, she was by herself and in pain and we have no idea if she is okay. And why do you suddenly care!!" Meredith blasted Mark and he stepped back in slight shock over the small woman's fury.

At that exact moment, the doctors motioned Meredith into the hospital room and asked her to sit down. The obstetrician explained that Izzie had sustained a miscarriage at approximately 6 weeks. She had developed a high grade fever due to sepsis from the miscarriage and was exacerbated by the flu. She needed an immediate D and C. They were treating her with a low dosage pain killer and an antibiotic. Meredith was listed as her emergency contact and they would need her signature to complete the procedure. Meredith said she would sign the forms.

Mark caught Meredith in the hall and he told her he was going in to sit with Izzie and he didn't give a damn what she thought. He found Izzie sedated and still in her austere hospital bed. He sat next to her and held her hand and talked aimlessly. He felt guilty that he had left her so abruptly this morning, that he was feeling things for her that he thought were reserved only for Addison, he shared that he knew how hard it was to lose a baby and that he would be there for her. He looked up and saw George standing in the doorway and growled for him to leave. He had no place there – he abandoned her and their child.

"You O'Malley are a puppy and not worth a moment of her time. Get the hell out before I make you." George was startled and jealous over the possessiveness that he saw in Mark's eyes. Mark watched him leave the hospital room and stretched out next to her and drifted off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Mark woke early the next morning, before the sun rose. Izzie slept deeply, still under the hold of pain killers that were intended to help her body recover from a dual infection. He slipped out of her room and down to the floor desk, pointedly ignoring looks from a few of the nurses. Mark wasn't exactly sure what they were so upset about. He may have entertained himself with a few of the floor nurses but he had never been serious about any of them. However, that didn't mean he was serious about her either. He just liked her and he suddenly realized that made Izzie Stevens incredibly dangerous.

George had been keeping an eye on Izzie's room, waiting for a chance to slip in. He knew that she would still be unconscious, but he wanted to look at her chart. The gossip that was making it way around the hospital was that she was pregnant by Sloan. George slipped in her room and casually flipped open her chart. The notations identified a first trimester miscarriage complicated by flu. She had been suffering from chills and general signs of an infection. They had estimated the age of the fetus at six weeks. He looked over at the sleeping blonde and winced. He wished he could have been there for her but it was too late. He slipped out of her hospital room and went back on his rounds. He had been afraid that Mark or Meredith might have seen him in her room.

The residents went about their day, strangely aware that the atmosphere was slightly off. Izzie's naturally sunny demeanor helped make rounds with abrasive attending much easier to endure. Christina volunteered to sit with Izzie during her lunch hour. Her friends didn't want her to wake up alone. Christina knew exactly how she would be feeling but she wasn't Izzie's closest confidante. Neither was Meredith, both women were feeling very protective towards her. They were curious as to this strange relationship between the young resident and the bad-ass attending plastic surgeon.

Mark was known for bedding anything in a pair of fishnets. Izzie was known for being a bit of a bleeding heart. Both women watched Mark bark orders at his interns and chuckled when he stared down Lexie Grey for asking if he was into blondes. He could be heard mumbling something about women and nosy busybodies. The three doctors had been working together to cover most of Izzie's cases.

Meanwhile, Izzie slowly woke up and became aware of a sharp pain in her abdominal area. She winced and slowly crawled down to the end of the bed and picked up her chart. She quickly flipped it open and and felt her eyes fill up with unshed tears. How could she not have known she was pregnant? It seemed so unfair that she had to lose George and her unborn child. She attempted to stand up and winced. Her nurse came in and immediately told her to get back in bed. Izzie stubbornly said that she was fine and she wanted to go home. She looked up and saw Mark standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing? Get back in that bed now!"

Izzie attempted to argue you back but felt the room starting to spin around her. She swayed unsteadily on her feet. Mark swore and raced across the room to catch her before she hit the floor. He swung her up in his arms and put her back to bed. He slid his fingers through her hair with a heavy sigh. Izzie mutinously avoided his eyes as tears slipped down her face. Mark stretched out next to her, carefully spooning behind her.

He started talking about his day, carefully avoiding any serious topics. He told her that he saw some of her patients and they all missed her and wished her well. He told her that she had to be the most stubborn woman he had ever met. He talked and kept talking about anything and absolutely nothing until she began to relax. Izzie closed her eyes and felt her insides melt. What was it about this particular man? He affected her in ways that no one else had, not even Denny. Her body was battered and tired, but she was still a girl.

"I read my chart and I guess everyone knows – so I am not just a mistress but one who was too stupid to protect herself. -"

"It can happen to attendings too. Don't be so hard on yourself blondie. Addie and I screwed up too. Its easy to look back and have the answers, but do me a favor stay away from the puppy."

Izzie said she would and looked up at Mark with a small smile. She thanked him for sitting with her. Mark grinned and said he was looking out for his investment. He turned so that he was looking into her eyes.

"I plan on finding out all your secrets Dr. Model and not the kind that the puppy knows. I know who you really are." he grinned at her wickedly. He slid off the bed and reminded her to stay in bed because she was too weak for him to make her stay there.

Izzie flushed and watched him leave. She closed her eyes and realized she was suddenly in a lot of trouble. She drifted off to sleep. She woke several hours later and noticed that Christina was sitting next to her bed. As usual, she was surrounded by files and was making notes furiously. Izzie stretched and winced. Christina looked at her with an unfathomable expression.

"Its okay, you know to feel whatever it is -"

"I don't know what to say – its just weird. The whole thing makes no sense you know. Technically, a miscarriage is just the body ridding itself of a piece of tissue that can't survive. Still, it -"

"Its hard I know, but I am not good at the whole Izzie being sunshiney thing. So I am going to be pragmatic, you're healthy and can have more babies when the time is right."

Meredith poked her head in the room a few moments later. She looked at both Izzie and Christina and decided it was safe to enter. She told Iz how scary it had been to find her lying on the floor. It had reminded her of when her mother had slit her wrists. Izzie looked at Meredith and suddenly realized how critical her situation had really been. She thanked her for saving her life. Meredith also told her that Mark had been there right beside her screaming orders at the staff. He had made sure the interns monitoring her checked her on the hour.

"What did you do to that man, girl? Whatever it is, you need to give me some detailed instructions?"

Izzie blushed and Meredith and Christina laughed. Their laughter stopped because George stood in the doorway to her hospital room. A hush fell over the group. George pointedly asked the other two doctors to leave. Izzie coldly told George that they could stay.

"Seriously, George do you really think that they care you were sleeping with your dirty mistress? Do you think that they care that you got her pregnant?"

"Iz, I just wanted to see how you were -"

"Suddenly, now you care, you do remember that you called me a whore. Do you remember George? I tried damn you to talk to you. You ajust told me I was a mistake."

"Calm -"

"Get out, I just had major surgery and you want to talk – I must have been insane to think I loved you." She was horrified to find herself crying again.

Meredith escorted George out and reminded him that Izzie was flooded with hormones. It was not the type to discuss anything with her.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 (am going to try to update more often now that my grad school schedule has slowed down last semster was a killer)

Izzie was released from the hospital ten days after her miscarriage. Her doctors wanted to ensure that the infection had completely left her body. She had run a dangerously high fever for several days and terrified Miranda Bailey and the attending gynecologist who consulted on her case. The concensus was that she finally gained enough physical strength to return home. Her friends, mainly Christina and Meredith were worried about her emotional state. Izzie had always been the sunny optimist among their set.

Meredith had volunteered to take her home. Izzie had been quiet on the short drive to the house. Mere watched her out of the corner of her eyes. The tall blonde was pale and had lost weight. Meredith flashed back to finding Izzie collapsed on the floor, bleeding. It wasn't something that she ever wanted to experience again. That one moment reinforced how much Izzie meant to her and the depth of their friendship. The relationship wasn't snarky like her friendship with Christina. It was gentler and more supportive. She was determined to support Izzie whether she wanted it or not.

"Stop it"

"What"

"I can hear you thinking. I am fine and I process not to turn the kitchen into a bakery."

"Iz, you could have died -."

"Aren't you being a little dramatic? I had the flu."

"And nearly hemorrhaged from a miscarriage. Its -".

"Look I know you care okay but I need some space to breathe. Everyone knows and I just need some room k. So you did your duty, you brought your sick roommate home now take yourself back to work or I am going to need bail money."

Meredith stuck her tongue out at Izzie and wrapped her in a big hug merely to annoy the blonde. Izzie tolerated the embrace for a few moments and then ran up the stairs and waved her fingers at Mere. She just really wanted to be alone to process her feelings and the soap opera that her life had turned into. She opened the door to her bedroom and looked around at the comforting space. Nothing had really changed except that Derek had done her laundry. Her dirty clothes were now folded neatly in a large laundry basket that was perched in front of her closet.

She opened the large bay window that looked into the back yard and sat down on the window seat. She rested her head on her knees and tried to make sense of everything. A lost baby and she just realized through this miscarriage that she really did want babies eventually. Bailey had tried to soothe her lost maternal feelings by reminding her that she was only part way through her residency. Could she have really dealt with a baby?

_Maybe not but she was couldn't explain it but she thought that the baby would have been a girl and would have named her Hope._

She wiped away tears and mentally said goodbye to the baby that would never exist except as a clump of cells. She didn't want to think about the impact of having a child with a married man and having to work at the same hospital. It had been so rough for Meredith when Derek and Addison had been at Seattle Grace. She suddenly had a lot more empathy for Mere and the rough period that she went through.

Izzie stood up and walked over to the oval mirror that occupied a corner of the room. The reflection was a woman she didn't recognize; someone who was tired and pale. It was time to put herself first and that meant completely ending things with George without any guilt. She could move on and concentrate on the future. But what was that future?

For the first time, she thought about Mark Sloan. He had been so completely different when she had been sick. He had been at her side while she was in the hospital. Mark had chased away her demons and held her while she cried. It didn't seem to be the same manwhore that wanted to help her get over her past as a dirty actions seemed to be in such conflict with the man she knew or maybe that was the man he showed the rest of the world.

She would sort out all of her relationship issues with bad doctor later, right now she just wanted a long hot bath.

Meredith returned to work and resisted the urge to call the house and check up on Iz. Izzie had been very clear that she would beat the hell out of the next person who asked her how she was feeling. Meredith walked into the on-call room and smiled when she saw a very scruffy and annoyed Mark Sloan.

It was very easy to see why Mark and Derek had been best friends through high school. The two men had been heartbreakers since they were in the cradle and had seen their first nurse. _McSteamy and McDreamy._

Mark was grumbling about his case load and telling the chief via cell phone that he had to check on a sick friend. Meredith would bet her meager resident's salary that the friend was a tall blone resident that she shared a bathroom with. She snickered slightly which made Mark glare sharply at her. Who knew that Dr. BadAss had a heart or that it might be beating for a willowy blonde?

Mark flipped his phone shut and griped about his best friend's girlfriend and suggested that she get her interns started on his scut.

"Is she at home?"

"She doesen't want to see anyone."

"Yeah well McHottie and I have some things to straighten out."

Mark really didn't care what Isabel Stevens thought but she was going to hear a few things. And it had been a long time coming.


End file.
